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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


The Paschal Chronicle records that during the siege of Constantinople in 626 the Avars burnt down the churches of *Kosmas and Damianos (brothers, physician martyrs of Syria, S00385) and *Nicholas (bishop of Myra, S00520) in the suburb of Blachernae, but were miraculously prevented from burning the church of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033). Written in Greek at Constantinople, c. 630.

Evidence ID

E07978

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Paschal Chronicle, s.a. 626

Ἔμειναν δὲ τῇ παρασκευῇ νωτοφύλακες καβαλλάριοι εἰς τὰ περὶ τὸ τεῖχος, βάλλοντες αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ λαμπρὰ εἰς πολλὰ προάστεια ἔως ὥρας ζ', καὶ ὑπεχώρησαν, ἔκαυσαν δὲ καὶ τὴv ἐκκλησίαv τῶν ἁγίων Κοσμᾶ καὶ Δαμιανοῦ ἐv Βλαχέρναις καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαv τοῦ ἁγίου Nικολάου καὶ ὅλα τὰ πέριξ. εἰς μέντοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τῆς δεσποίνης ἡμῶν τῆς θεοτόκου καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν σορὸν εἰσελθόντες οἱ ἐχθροί οὐδὲν ἠδυνήθησαν παντοίως τῶν ἐκεῖσε καταβλάψαι, τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ πρεσβείᾳ τῆς ἀχράντου μητρὸς αὐτοῦ οὕτως εὐδοκήσαντος.

'On the Friday a rearguard of cavalry remained in the vicinity of the wall, setting fire to many suburbs on the same day up till hour 7; and they withdrew. They burnt both the church of SS Cosmas and Damian at Blachernae and the church of St. Nicholas and all the surrounding areas. However, after approaching the church of our Lady the Mother of God and the Holy Reliquary, the enemy were completely unable to damage any of the things there, since God showed favour, at the intercession of his undefiled Mother.'


Text: Dindorf 1832, 725-6.
Translation: Whitby and Whitby 1989, 180.

Miracles

Miraculous protection - of church and church property
Miraculous interventions in war

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Foreigners (including Barbarians)

Source

The Chronicon Paschale (paschal or Easter chronicle) is a chronicle compiled at Constantinople in the first half of the 7th century. It covers events from the creation of the world up to the anonymous author's own time. The Chronicle probably concluded with the year 630 (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, xi), though the surviving text breaks off slightly earlier, in the entry for 628. The traditional name for the Chronicle originates from its introductory section, which discusses methods for calculating the date of Easter. The Chronicle survives thanks to a single manuscript, Vatican, Gr. 1941 (10th c.), on which all other surviving manuscripts depend. The only critical edition remains that of Ludwig Dindorf (1832).

The chronicler uses multiple chronological systems to date events: Olympiads, consular years, indictions, and years from the Ascension, as well as using Roman, Greek, and sometimes Egyptian dates (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, x). Numerous literary sources are utilised for the period before the author's own time, including well-known historical sources such as Eusebius and John Malalas. We have not included entries for material in the
Paschal Chronicle which simply reproduces material in earlier sources already entered in our database.


Discussion

The churches mentioned were all outside the city walls, in the suburb of Blachernae, the area where the northern end of Constantinople's land-wall reached the Golden Horn; after the siege the walls in the area were extended to include the church of the Virign Mary (see E07979). The church of Kosmas and Damianos had been attacked by the Avars in an earlier raid (E07971).

On the churches of Kosmas and Damianos, Mary, and Nicholas, see respectively Janin 1969, 286-289, 161-171, and 369-70.


Bibliography

Edition:
Dindorf, L., Chronicon Paschale (Bonn, 1832).

Translation:
Whitby, M., and Whitby, M., Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD (Translated Texts for Historians 7; Liverpool, 1989).

Further reading:
Janin, R., La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire Byzantin. I 3: Les eglises et les monastères de la ville de Constantinople. 2nd ed. (Paris, 1969).


Record Created By

David Lambert

Date of Entry

14/08/2020

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00033Mary, Mother of Christἡ θεοτόκοςCertain
S00385Kosmas and Damianos, brothers, physician martyrs of SyriaΚοσμᾶς, ΔαμιανόςCertain
S00520Nicholas, bishop of Myra in Lycia, under ConstantineΝικολάοςCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E07978 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07978